MAYA GEBEILY

Reporter

Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
  • AFP
  • Archives
Search

Francis

Incense and ululations: Pope Francis meets his Iraqi flock | AFP

March 6, 2021March 15, 2021 / Maya Gebeily / Leave a comment

[Published here March 6, 2021]

In the sun-soaked courtyard of Baghdad’s St Joseph Cathedral, members of Iraq’s dwindling Christian community waited in solemn silence for a man they’d never dreamt they would see.

Continue reading →

Grand Ayatollah Sistani, Iraq’s ‘shepherd’, to meet Pope Francis | AFP

March 5, 2021March 15, 2021 / Maya Gebeily / Leave a comment

[Published here March 5, 2021]

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the highest religious authority for Iraq’s Shiite Muslims, has wielded subtle but unprecedented power for a cleric, guiding his followers through decades of dictatorship, occupation and conflict.

Continue reading →

Instagram

Blossoms, butterflies, and new beginnings. I'm excited to announce that I'll be joining the Thomson Reuters Foundation as a regional correspondent, covering climate, socioeconomic justice, human rights and other key issues across the Middle East. Do get in touch with any story tips and recommendations! It's been an incredible six-year adventure with AFP and I'm so excited for this new ride.
The last story in our AFP series on corruption is about hope. Hope for better days ahead for Iraq. Hope that the unprecedented popular protests of 2019 could force a change in the country's broken politics. It was a hope that flared, burned bright, but was ultimately extinguished. Read about this rollercoaster through the eyes of Hassanein, a father of four who has risked his life for change, in the story linked in my bio.
In the second part of our series on corruption, AFP profiled the outspoken, hardworking and slightly-obsessive Taif al-Sami, who heads the budget office at #Iraq's finance ministry. Taif has survived war, state collapse, threats of violence from patronage networks and (of course) the patriarchy to become one of the only high-ranking female officials in Iraq's behemoth bureaucracy. Read her story in the link in my bio.
My Tweets

Categories

  • AFP
  • Archives
  • Articles
  • Culture
  • Iraq
  • ISIS
  • Kurdistan
  • Lebanon
  • Media Appearance
  • Middle East
  • NOW News
  • Syria
  • Turkey
  • Women

Tags

Baghdad children conflict demonstrations diplomacy displaced Geneva government health Iran Iraq IS ISIS Islamic State Islamic State group kurdistan Lebanon oil politics protests Raqqa rebels refugees security Syria Syrian Democratic Forces talks US war women

Recent Posts

  • ‘Worse than a jungle’: the cartel controlling Iraqi borders | AFP
  • ‘Pyramid’ of corruption pushes Iraq family to emigrate | AFP
  • ‘I don’t have money!’: Iraq’s graft-busting budget baroness | AFP
  • Iraq pegs hopes on Pope’s visit, but experts sceptical | AFP
  • BBC Radio: Interview on the Pope’s historic Iraq trip
Blog at WordPress.com.